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Cokal commences drilling in Central Kalimantan coal prospect

Australian-listed global coal group, Cokal Limited, has commenced drilling at its flagship Bumi Barito Mineral project in the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan. “The first drill is in place on the BBM project and we have commenced the first hole of a program aimed at defining the coal quality, and ultimately the resource potential of the project area,” Cokal Executive Chairman Peter Lynch said.

The commencement of the drilling program, carried out by Indonesian contractor Kasam, follows receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals for drilling. The program has been designed by Cokal Executive Director Pat Hanna and is being supervised by Yoga Suryanegara, Cokal’s Resource and Exploration Geologist.

Mr Hanna said the BBM project is located immediately adjacent to BHP Billiton’s Juloi project and is bisected by the Barito River. “We’ve been busy with a team of geologists on the ground since the start of the year mapping the known and new outcrops of coal,” he said.

“The mapping has been important in improving our understanding of the coal seams and determining the appropriate locations for locating the drill holes in order to efficiently prove up our deposit. We will be undertaking open and fully cored holes to the standards required by JORC. The core will be dispatched to an approved laboratory for analysis to determine the coal quality.”

Mr Lynch said the company was looking to expand the drilling program and hopes to employ additional drill rigs across the various projects it has in Central Kalimantan.